Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India (HMSI) will introduce a premium commuter motorcycle at the Auto Expo 2018. The bike is expected to be a 125 cc model which will have premium styling and sit just above the Honda CB Shine and Honda CB Shine SP.
Honda had already made a commitment to launch four new products, and three of them have already been launched in the Honda Cliq, Honda Africa Twin and the Honda Grazia. Now, the fourth product will be launched at the Auto Expo 2018 and it is likely to be in the lower end of the displacement, rather than a premium offering.
According to sources in the know, HMSI is not considering any premium products so we can certainly discount a product in the 250-300 cc space.
It was learnt that the new product will be a motorcycle but will sit in the commuter segment, yet will have premium design and positioning. The new premium commuter motorcycle could well be a brand new 125 cc motorcycle or even a premium 150 cc motorcycle like the Honda CBR150R which was discontinued after the BS-IV emission norms came into play. The outgoing CBR150R did not meet the new BS-IV norms, but Honda has already launched the updated CBR150R in Indonesia, and this could be the bike which will be launched in India.
So far, Honda is absolutely tight-lipped about any upcoming product launches, but it seems HMSI will be looking at notching up some more market share in the high-volumes commuter motorcycle segment. It still remains to be seen what Honda ends up finally launching at the Expo, but one thing’s for certain – it will definitely be a premium commuter product, either in the 125 cc or 150 cc segments.